By Amy Cochran, Grand Rapids Public Library, Seymour Branch

I’ve been reading many true crime and thrillers lately. One standout that I thoroughly enjoyed is Mardi Link’s thorough and sensitive exploration of a 1960s Michigan cold case that has never found firm resolution.

The little town of Good Hart in Northern Michigan was hit by tragedy in 1968 when the Robisons, a wealthy vacationing family from Detroit, were found murdered in their summer cottage. Nearly a month after the murders, the cottage caretaker Monnie Bliss responded to neighbor complaints about a bad smell and found all six of the Robisons, Dick and Shirley and their four children, shot to death and decaying in the cabin.

Link goes on to detail the unfolding investigation and how investigators ruled out the locals and turned their attention to Dick Robison, delving deep into his business dealings. Over the next few years, they followed multiple leads and created a case against Dick Robison’s employee Joe Scolaro, only to have the case fall apart due to lack of evidence placing Scolaro at the scene. Scolaro committed suicide a few years later, leaving a note behind that he had not killed the Robisons. The guns used were identified but ultimately never found, and many other leads went nowhere, such as mention of a mysterious Mr. Roeberts who was supposed to be financing a huge new deal for Dick Robison.

The details of the case are fascinating and all the more so since Link solidly grounds the narrative in the particular time and place. Investigation techniques and attitudes have changed considerably since the 1960s: for example, the mentally ill in the area were all considered suspects simply because of their disorders. Rules on crime scene preservation were very different as well: one of the responding deputies accidentally wiped any traces of evidence off of the only weapon still at the scene, a bloody hammer.

I found the sense of place to be particularly strong. Link sets the stage by describing Good Hart as a “northern coastal town of well-tended cottages, ancient trees, Native American legends and a clenched fist of locals” and devotes quite a bit of the narrative to the history of the town and the culture of its residents, including contemporary attitudes towards the murders. Link’s thoughtful treatment of this tragedy is not only a fascinating true crime narrative, but also serves as a window into a small northern Michigan community through the last four decades.